First Impressions

The old saying is that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. As I can be kind of a socially awkward person I've found myself overcompensating on the back-end for a less-than-stellar first impression more than once.

Today was the Teacher Welcome Brunch at my daughter's new school and I wanted to send something that wouldn't require any making up for later on. When I really want to knock a recipe out of the park I always turn to my favorite baking cookbook - Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. Enthusiastically I selected the recipe for her Cardamom Crumb Cake.

Then, I realized that I didn't have cardamom and that I shouldn't send nuts into a school without knowing if they are nut-free. Unperturbed, I sifted through my spices and discovered that my TJ's pumpkin pie spice blend contained cardamom (and smelled awesome!) I also omitted the nuts from the topping. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as listed here.

This cake filled the house with an amazing fall scent as it was baking and looks beautiful. I also received very high praise from one of the teachers who said everyone really enjoyed it and wanted to know who made it. I'd call that a successful first impression!

"I wish I was at the beach, too" Smoothie

One of my least favorite things in the world is to be cold. I hate it. I usually cope with the winter weather of the Northeast well enough through December and January because I find peace, beauty, and romance in the early snowfalls around the holidays. I also appreciate the giddiness that sledding and playing in the snow creates for my children so I tolerate it. February comes and I still try to be a good sport about the freezing cold winds and (what feel like) daily snow squalls. 

By this point in the season, I'm really just done. I'm done with wearing eight layers every time I leave the house. I'm done with closed windows and stuffy air. I'm done with coming up with indoor activities for the kids. I'm ready to get outside, see some sunshine, and warm up already!

Clearly many of my friends and family feel the same way because they are all taking tropical beach vacations to escape the deep freeze. My colleague is soaking up the sun in Hawaii, my parents are cruising around Mexico, and my in-laws are on a plane to Aruba as I type. I could be jealous of them all (OK, I secretly am...), or I can dig deep and find a way to bring some beach-y comfort to the eternal winter wonderland that is Upstate NY. 

So, that's what I did. 

Each morning this week I've been sipping one of these delicious pina colada like smoothies and pretending really hard that I've got sand between my toes, sun shining on my face, and gentle waves creating a musical backdrop for my morning.

Disadvantage to this approach? Reality hits pretty hard the second I walk out the door. Advantage? A few more months to get bathing suit ready. Speaking of bathing suits, did I mention this delicious and filling smoothie adds up to just 4 Weight Watchers points plus?? Not a bad way to start your morning...

The Recipe

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree. No need to add ice or anything extra, it will have a perfect consistency from the frozen pineapple. I have been using a very low power, but completely adequate Hamilton Beach single serve blender that is perfect for on the go.

Enjoy!

Baked Pancake Bites (WW friendly)

Weekends are not the same once you have kids. You don't get to sleep in. You don't get to wake up and gaze lovingly at your partner thinking about how great life is. You don't get to have a peaceful cup of coffee while you catch up on the news. You don't get to take a long, hot shower.

Nope, none of that. The reality of weekends with kids looks like this: You roll over at 6:15 and gaze at the clock amazed that no one has woken you up yet with nightmares, coughing fits, or vomit. You contemplate if you should stay in bed and try to catch a few more precious minutes of sleep or sneak out to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Before the 30 seconds it would take for your groggy brain to make that decision passes you hear..."Mommy? Mommy? Mooooooommy?!" You reluctantly get up and drag her into bed with you. You cling to the unrealistic hope that she might go back to sleep. After ten rounds of, "Is it morning yet?" You admit defeat and concede that it is indeed morning. Still fooling yourself, you think it might be possible to get up with kid number one and have a cup of coffee before kid number two wakes up. Just as the Keurig drips the last drop into your cup you hear it. Kid two is up because kid one is filling her crib with pillows to make a "fort"...

This scenario is pretty much what my house looks like every Saturday morning...sleepy parents trying (unsuccessfully) to match the insane enthusiasm of a preschooler and toddler excited at the prospect of a full two days at home with mommy and daddy. After playing along with whatever crazy scheme the nearly five year old comes up with for about thirty minutes it is inevitable that the following phrase will be uttered, "Mommy, I'm hungry!"

Anyone who routinely cooks for children knows that this is a dangerous time. Eggs might have been awesome yesterday, but today they will carpet the floor. The a
ct of pouring a bowl of Joe-Os might bring cheers whereas an hour long effort on stuffed French toast might be met with groans and wails of, "That's disgusting!" 

Today, I took a chance. My husband and older daughter have been into Nutella recently so I offered to make Nutella pancakes. They accepted the concept. The challenge was on.

Baked Pancake Bites with Nutella

As I usually do when I'm looking to try something new, I did a quick google search. I turned up this recipe for pancake balls and Nutella. I tweaked it and got to work. I had my doubts as the batter was very thin, but I persevered through the rest of the steps. 

As they were baking our kitchen was filled with a lovely sweet, spicy aroma. My daughter was enticed into the kitchen and started circling the oven waiting for them to come out. I held my breath as I popped them out of the pan and placed them on the table. To my surprise and delight everyone in the house loved them! My daughter even finished the leftovers for a snack later in the day and asked for more. I will definitely be making these again soon.

Added bonus, I played with the original recipe to make it healthier and these worked out to a very reasonable 1 point plus per muffin. I ate 5 mini muffins and a heaping serving of fruit salad for a very satisfying breakfast.

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk

1 egg

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose, unbleached flour

2 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp raw sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp nutella

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and use cooking spray (or paper liners) to coat wells of a 24 mini muffin tin.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine milk, egg, coconut oil, and vanilla extract until well blended.
3. Whisk together all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and blend very well (The batter will be thin!).
5. Pour the batter into the muffin wells (I poured the batter from a large measuring cup to make this step easier). You might have a little excess batter
6. Put the Nutella into a small ziploc baggie and snip the corner. Drizzle a small ribbon of chocolate into each muffin.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes. 
8. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

*May be served with maple syrup for dipping, but totally unnecessary!

**Try these out with different fillings - jam, banana slices, fresh berries, bacon, sausage, etc!

Pumpkin Smoothie

After making the last recipe I posted (Baked Pumpkin Cranberry Oatmeal) I was left with half a can of organic pumpkin puree. I really didn't feel like baking again - busy week at work and my hands have been so dry that I didn't want to have a lot of dishes to wash - so the container has sat in the fridge all week.

This morning after taking my first group exercise class in probably over a year at the gym I finally had an inspiration for that sad little container of pumpkin. I decided to make myself a replenishing smoothie alongside my nutrient packed breakfast (a kale, salsa, and brown rice omelette with a bowl of clementine segments). To my complete and utter surprise, my used-to-be-a-great-eater-but-now-is-extremely-picky 4 1/2 year old loved it too! After letting her try a sip, I was trying to set up a photo, but she decided I was taking too long and climbed up onto the table to drink some more. I decided this photo was far cuter than the solo smoothie.

Maple Pumpkin Smoothie
makes 1 serving - 3 points plus

1/2 frozen banana
1/3 cup plain, lowfat organic yogurt
1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp pure maple syrup

1. Put the frozen banana in the blender and let rest for at least 5 minutes
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth
3. Enjoy as a snack or with your breakfast

Baked Pumpkin Cranberry Oatmeal To Go

I spent a large portion of last year really focusing in on nutrition and trying to figure out the best things for my family to be eating. I lost a lot of weight in the first half of the year and was feeling pretty good about all of the fresh, local foods we were eating. Then, we got an offer on our house and my whole world turned upside down.

We only had a month to get our entire house packed and to find a place to live. I was also planning bear's first birthday party which is always extremely time consuming for me. In addition, we were going to Disney World and had to pack and plan for that. Somehow we made it through, but then we came home and we were living in a tiny apartment. We had to make all the arrangements and preparations for Christmas in our limited space. Finally we made our second move into my parent's house between Christmas and the New Year.

After the house sold all of the stress and craziness was just too much. I wanted to stick with everything I had been working towards, but was just so overwhelmed. I started hitting up drive-thrus again, we ordered takeout multiple times per week, and I was constantly making unhealthy food choices for myself at work. And (not surprising) I started to feel horrible. Mentally, I was disappointed in myself. Physically, my body was feeling uncomfortable - stomachaches, acid reflux, gastritis (probably an ulcer too), skin breakouts, and a generalized feeling of heaviness. 

Now that we are moved and settled (for at least the next 5 months anyway) I'm really motivated to get back on the wagon. I've rejoined Weight Watchers. I'm making a plan to get back to the gym at least three days per week. I'm feeling really optimistic and excited to go forward. 

All that said, It's very easy for me to let my mommy obligations get in the way of a healthier, happier lifestyle for myself. I know I need to have a plan or I won't succeed. The first part of this plan for me is not having to think about breakfast. Each week I am going to make something over the weekend that has me set for success each morning. Something easy that doesn't require any fussing over. Which brings me to my first recipe share of the New Year...

Baked Pumpkin Cranberry Oatmeal To Go

Based on the recipe for baked oatmeal found here

Yields: 12 muffins at 4 points plus each

2 eggs

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup melted butter

1 apple, grated

1 1/4 cup 1% milk

3 cups rolled oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup fresh cranberries

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease muffin tin with non-stick spray.
2. Mix first 7 ingredients together with a mixer.
3. Add last four ingredients and mix by hand until well blended. The mixture will be very loose and wet still. Allow to rest in the mixing bowl for at least 30 minutes.
4. Divide evenly between muffin wells and bake for 25-30 minutes until set.
5. Can eat hot or freeze* for later use. Store at room temperature for 3 days, in the fridge for 7 days, or in the freezer for one month.

They are delicious at room temp, but I prefer to re-warm them in the oven at 350 for five minutes when I have time.
*If frozen, reheat by setting oven to 350, wrapping muffin in foil and baking for 5 minutes. Turn off oven and leave muffin in for 10 minutes longer.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We've been getting in the green spirit for a few weeks around here and we topped off the morning with an entirely green breakfast! Daddy made some disturbingly green eggs and ham for the bug for breakfast while I whipped up a batch of these semi-healthy donuts. The original recipe can be found here. I modified only by replacing 1 cup of regular white flour with whole wheat flour.

I wouldn't call these donuts fabulous, but they had a great texture/crumb and were tastier dipped in my cup of coffee. Also, the glaze looked pretty, but didn't have much flavor. Next time, I would add a tablespoon of melted butter to make it richer.

Friday Five: St. Patrick's Day Yummies!

Just in time for this St. Patty's Day this weekend I'm sharing some of the yummy things I've whipped up in the past week or so to celebrate at home, school, and work.

 

Start St. Patrick's Day off right with a well rounded breakfast. I used my favorite basic pancake recipe with whole wheat white flour and tinted with Wilton icing colors to get vibrant hues.

For the kiddos: "Rainbow" pancakes, banana "clouds", and a scrambled egg "pot of gold"

For the grown-ups: Rainbow silver dollars

If you're looking for a treat that is colorful and only requires a few ingredients (but a bit of time to assemble), try out these rainbow rice krispie treats. I was inspired by this blogger, but I think that her recipe made them too crisp and if I made them again I would add more marshmallows and perhaps a dash of heavy cream during the cooking phase to make them chewier.

The colors didn't come out nearly as vibrant in this photo as they were in person

The in production shot before I portioned them...

These St. Patty's cake pops are stunners, but require MANY hours of dedication to create. I got the idea for a rainbow cake pop from this blogger's beautiful picture tutorial, but wasn't confident I could handle the wrapping of layers of cake without just squishing it all up into a mess. Instead, I opted to roll each color out between sheets of wax paper and then layered them in rainbow order. After a 6 hour rest in the fridge, I cut the big block of cake into small rectangles. I realled wanted to make sure they stayed together when dipping in the chocolate, so I rested them in the freezer for another 30-60 minutes before inserting the sticks and dipping them.

Funky lighting because I snapped this as they were chillin' in the fridge while I dipped another batch 

Outside: Green chocolate and some festive sprinkles

Inside: Surprise! Rainbow cake!
The poor lighting in my kitchen at 11pm when I finished these does not do them justice:-(

This "adults only" Guiness/Jameson/Bailey's cupcake will leave you with a buzz as well as a sugar rush. I shared these a few years ago (see my old post here) and have been making them yearly ever since.

 

Once again, not a great photo because I finished them at night and then I snapped this in our lunchroom just now

For those of you who are trying to behave and follow a diet (like me!) here's a healthy St. Patty's Day treat - Green Fruit Salad!

Diced kiwi, honeydew melon, and green grapes

 

Sweet Potato and Sausage Hash

Weekend breakfasts are a thing in our house. We love cooking up eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, french toast and anything else I can think up to have a big family breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Last weekend I was on call for my practice and had to spend my morning rounding at the hospital and seeing urgent visits in the office so we missed breakfast together. I decided to make something a little extra special today to make up for it. 

Years ago I found this recipe from Diane Schnier's site and my family loved it. As time has gone on I've adjusted it to suit our tastes - taking out anything spicy (for the bug) and adding meat (for the husband). This is the first time I've made it and thought about the oil/fat content to make it WW friendly. Served with a fried egg (only using fat free cooking spray to coat the pan) and swirl of ketchup the points come to a very reasonable 5 points plus for a generous 1/2 cup portion.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Hash (3 points plus)

12 oz sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 small onion, roughly chopped

1 tsp olive oil

3 sausage links

1 tbsp water

salt and pepper to taste

ground cinnamon

ground nutmeg

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
2. Add the sweet potatoes and onions to the pan and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Cook for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. They will start to cook, but still be a but crisp at this point.
3. Remove the potato mixture from the pan and set aside.
4. Add the sausage links to the pan with 1 tbsp water and cover. Cook covered for the first 3-5 minutes. Then uncover and turn the sausages so they are browned on all sides and cooked through. Remove the sausages from the pan.
5. Add the sweet potato mixture back to the pan and turn the heat to low.
6. Dice the sausage links and mix into the potatoes.
7. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Stir to fully incorporate. Cook for 2 more minutes on low.
8. Turn off the heat, remove the pan from the burner and cover. Let sit for 3 minutes covered before serving (this last step just softens the potatoes up a little bit more so they are more kid friendly. If you want them a bit more crisp you don't have to do this).

Serves 4 - each serving is a heaping 1/2 cup

This can be modified in so many ways to fit so many different tastes. Consider a southwest twist by adding some diced bell peppers and chili powder and serving with salsa on top, a spicy twist by adding diced jalapenos and drizzling with sriracha, or a heartier vegetable version by leaving out the sausage and adding diced celery, carrots, bell peppers, etc.

WW Silver Dollar Fruity Pancakes

This morning the bug asked for pancakes. This is a meal I have been avoiding since starting Weight Watchers, but I decided it was time to work out a recipe we could all live with rather than deny her a favorite weekend treat. Here's what I came up with...

Silver Dollar Fruity Pancakes - makes 5 servings

3 points+ per serving, each serving = 7 pancakes

Ingredients

3/4 cup of skim milk

2 tbsp white vinegar

1/2 cup unbleached white flour

1/2 whole wheat white flour

1 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1 tbsp light butter, melted (I used Balade from Trader Joe's)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Assorted thinly sliced fruits (bananas, peaches, apples, etc) or berries

Directions

1. Add vinegar to milk and allow to sit for at least 5 minutes so that the milk "sours" (gives the effect of buttermilk in the recipe)
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine
3. Combine all wet ingredients in the measuring cup with the milk and whisk to combine
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated
5. Drop level tablespoons of batter on a hot griddle or pan that has been coated with cooking spray
6. Add fruit to each pancake as it cooks
7. Flip each pancake after ~2 minutes and cook an additional 1-2 minutes on the other side
8. Enjoy with maple syrup (extra points) or more fresh fruit

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

Yummy Batter

Frozen Raspberries, Frozen blueberries, & Banana Slices

On the Griddle

Breakfast is Served!
(only 6 pancakes are shown, but a serving is 7 - I couldn't help eating one fresh off the pan)